President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on.  LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto. — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 while Martin Luther King and others look on. LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto.

Selected Cases

Coads v. Nassau County, No. 611872/2023 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.)
Lead counsel. Represented voters in one of the first partisan gerrymandering lawsuits brought under New York’s Municipal Home Rule Law. First-chaired a two-week bench trial in December 2024 and January 2025. Settled favorably in the middle of trial.

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe, No. 3:22-cv-00022-PDW-ARS (D.N.D.)
Co-counsel. Represented a tribal nation and several tribal members in a challenge to North Dakota’s state legislative redistricting plan under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Prevailed after a week-long bench trial in June 2024. The case remains on appeal.

Wright v. Sumter County Board of Elections and Registration, No. 1:14-cv-00042-WLS (M.D. Ga.)
Lead counsel. Represented a Black voter in a Section 2 challenge to the at-large method of electing the Sumter County school board. Prevailed after a four-day bench trial in December 2017. Briefed and successfully argued several appeals.

Whitest v. Crisp County School District, No. 1:17-cv-00109-LAG (M.D. Ga.)
Lead counsel. Represented Back voters in a Section 2 challenge to the method of electing the Crisp County school board. Settled favorably after summary judgment.

United Utah Party v. Cox, No. 2:17-cv-00655-DN (D. Utah)
Lead counsel. Represented a moderate third-party seeking to participate in a special congressional election. Prevailed on a motion for a preliminary injunction.

Perez v. Perry, No. 5:11-cv-360 (W.D. Tex)
Senior counsel. Represented the United States in a challenge to Texas’s 2011 legislative and congressional redistricting plans under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Second-chaired bench trial over two and half weeks in July and August 2014, handling numerous lay and expert witnesses. Gave opening and closing statements.

South Carolina v. United States, No. 12-203 (D.D.C.)
Senior counsel. Represented the United States in a declaratory judgment action by the State of South Carolina seeking judicial preclearance for its voter-identification statute under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Examined the United States’ primary expert witness and cross-examined the State’s primary expert witnesses. Succeeded in obtaining key modifications to the interpretation and implementation of the statute.

Texas v. United States, No. 11-1303 (D.D.C.)
Senior counsel. Successfully represented the United States in a declaratory judgment action by the State of Texas seeking judicial preclearance for its 2011 legislative and congressional redistricting plans under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Examined numerous lay and expert witnesses.

Bone Shirt v. Hazeltine, No. 01-3032-KES (D.S.D.)
Lead counsel. Represented tribal members in a challenge to South Dakota’s 2001 legislative redistricting plan under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Successfully first-chaired a two-week bench trial after two years of discovery. Briefed and successfully argued multiple appeals.

Quiver v. Nelson, 02-5069 (D.S.D.)
Lead counsel. One of the largest voting-rights cases in history. Represented tribal members in an enforcement action under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Negotiated a favorable settlement with the South Dakota Secretary of State.

Copeland v. Priest, 02-CV-675 (E.D. Ark.)
Lead counsel. Represented students at Ouachita Baptist University, including Sarah Huckabee, daughter of the former governor, in a challenge to the systematic disenfranchisement of student voters by local officials. Obtained a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, and a final judgment restoring students to the voter rolls.

Other Cases

English v. Chester County, No. 10-0244 (E.D. Pa.) (co-counsel) (student voting-rights)
Janis v. Nelson, No. 09-5019 (D.S.D.) (co-counsel) (felon disenfranchisement)
Green Party of Arkansas v. Daniels, No. 4:06CV00758GH (E.D. Ark.) (lead counsel) (third-party ballot access)
Blackmoon v. Charles Mix County, No. 05-4017 (D.S.D.) (lead counsel) (malapportionment and vote dilution)
Kirkie v. Buffalo County, No. 03-3011 (D.S.D.) (lead counsel) (malapportionment and intentional discrimination)
Green Party of Arkansas v. Priest, No. 4:01CV00586GH (E.D. Ark.) (lead counsel) (third-party ballot access)
Libertarian Party of Virginia v. Quinn, No. 01-CV-468 (E.D. Va.) (lead counsel) (third-party ballot access)

Click here for a list of reported cases in which Bryan served as lead or co-counsel.